EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series 8 >Tests

EDUCATION REPORT - November 7, 2002: Foreign Student Series #8 >Tests

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our reports about how foreign students can attend an American college or university. This
information also can be found on the Special English Web site, w-w-w dot voaspecialenglish dot com. Today, we
provide information about admission¹ tests required by many American colleges.

Experts say American college officials mainly consider three things when deciding which students to accept.
Most important are the grades the student has earned in school. Officials also consider how difficult the student’
s classes were. Colleges usually accept students who have shown that they are interested in learning² and have
taken difficult classes. The third thing they look at is scores on admissions³ tests. The college you want to attend
may require that you take a test called the S-A-T One Reasoning Test.

It is known by the letters S-A-T. The test measures a student’s understanding of mathematics and English. It
also measures how well a student reads and understands what is read.

The S-A-T is a three-hour test. It costs about twenty-six dollars. You can get detailed⁴ information at the College
Board Web site, w-w-w dot college board dot com. That’s w-w-w dot c-o-l-l-e-g-e b-o-a-r-d dot c-o-m. The
Web site will tell you where and when the S-A-T will be given in your country. If you do not have a computer,
you can get the information at the United States Educational Advising Center in your country.

Another test is called the Test of Spoken English. It is a twenty-minute test that involves speaking English. Many
American universities want you to take this test if you plan to attend graduate school.

Some universities also will tell you to take the Test of Written English. This is a thirty-minute test in which you
write about something in English. It measures your ability to organize information and express ideas in correct
English.

The schools to which you apply probably will require a test known as TOEFL. TOEFL is a short way of saying
Test of English as a Foreign Language. It measures your ability to understand, read and write English. We will
tell about the TOEFL on our Education Report next week.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.

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1 admission   

n.允许进入；承认；入场费，入会费，入场券

参考例句：

• We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
• By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认，事故应该由她负责。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 admissions   

n.准许进入( admission的名词复数 )；入场费；入场券；承认

参考例句：

• a need-blind admissions policy 不考虑经济能力的录取政策
• He's the Dean of Admissions for the University of Michigan. 他是Michigan大学的新生注册主任。 来自辞典例句

4 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。